Tuesday, March 12, 2013

What standing committees in the HOR and the Senate would the special interest groups/corporations, Lockhead Martin & Boeing (both military defense contractors), want to target with their lobbying efforts and campaign donations? Why?

Lockheed Martin and Boeing have substantial contracts with Federal agencies, primarily the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.
The companies typically focus their efforts on the committees with jurisdiction over DOD and DHS, which are: the House and Senate Armed Services Committee, the House Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. These committees are known as authorizing committees, since they oversee the programs and operations of specific agencies. The committees also periodically pass legislation authorizing the agencies under their jurisdiction.
They also contribute to members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, especially those members on the subcommittees with jurisdiction over DOD and DHS. The appropriations committees allocate funding for each Federal agency, can can set funding levels for specific projects.
In addition to the above committees, Lockheed Martin and Boeing also have contracts with other government agencies, such as the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration.


Military defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing would want to spend their lobbying efforts and campaign donations targeting members of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.
The reasons for this stem from the US Constitution Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 that states "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by law."
Congress, in other words, as the legislative branch of the Federal government holds the power of the purse strings through its constitutionally delegated power to appropriate government funds through legislation.
Many members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, for example, have military bases and defense contractors in their home states and wish to keep government contracts and money flowing to their constituents. The contractors incentivize and reward this help with campaign donations. Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees exert great control over the size and composition of the U.S. national budget, so defense contractors naturally have an interest in maintaining close lobbying and donor relations with the members of these committees in order to promote defense spending.

No comments:

Post a Comment

What is the theme of the chapter Lead?

Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...